


Throwin' punches, aiming for the heart

by DopePie



Series: Proof that Hans Landa has a heart [3]
Category: Inglourious Basterds (2009)
Genre: Aldo Raine - Freeform, Aldo needs to sort his shit out and decide, And a good fuck probably, Confusion, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Rollercoaster, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Enemies to friends only in this, Fighting, Hans Landa - Freeform, Hans Needs a Hug, Hopefully the smut will be worth it lmao, Hurt/Comfort, I finally graduated so like, I'm just teasing you all with these aren't I, Inglorious Basterds - Freeform, M/M, Mild Smut, Nightmares, Non-Explicit Smut, Oh my god this was ready months ago and I forgot, Past Tense, i'm the worst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-06
Updated: 2020-08-06
Packaged: 2021-03-06 06:35:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,826
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25748998
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DopePie/pseuds/DopePie
Summary: "The way the last word was spoken made Aldo’s heart clench a bit.Maybe he should’ve left him alone.He didn’t."
Relationships: Hans Landa/Aldo Raine
Series: Proof that Hans Landa has a heart [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1723537
Comments: 6
Kudos: 38





	Throwin' punches, aiming for the heart

**Author's Note:**

> I suggest reading this while listening to "10 a.m. Gare du North - Keaton Henson"  
> Prepare to cry

After that night, Hans and Aldo’s relationship changed radically.

Hans had quietly taken up the house chores like cleaning around and washing the dishes - partially because his mild OCD couldn’t function with Aldo’s very little amount of care for order - and Aldo didn’t complain.

The American was busy working most of the day and spent the rest either doing chores, helping the local veteran club or hanging out with his few friends from the War.

Hans envied him, his freedom, but in his heart he knew that he deserved whatever people told him.

It had been a couple of weeks into his forced stay at Aldo’s place as part of the deal his boss had made to alleviate Aldo’s sentence for shooting the other nazi.  
Hans enjoyed being anywhere Aldo was, as he soon found out because for a man with such charisma as him, he was the perfect match for a quieter, but enjoyably sarcastic man like Aldo.

They balanced each other out, Aldo being the frontman of the small city as he knew most people, and Hans hiding behind him when some people got too close just to make a rude comment about him.

After a specific accident, in which Aldo had left Hans alone for five minutes and three men had ganged up on him - forcing Aldo to punch an old childhood friend of his and having to use strength to get them to back off, which made Hans feel even more like a burden - they’d agreed that Hans should avoid crowded places.

“You’re a monster!”

“You should’ve been killed!”

“My cousin was killed because of you nazis!”

The words stung and he tried not to think about it, but some days, when the winter forced him to postpone the garden work and the possibility of going outside for a walk was not an option, the voices got louder and louder in his mind and they weighed on him like heavy shackles, binding him to that past he so dearly hoped he could forget.

The nightmares were even worse.  
Waking up in a cold sweat, chest feeling so tight Hans thought it could’ve crushed inwards, collapsing under the pressure of his own memories and the comments that people made, and silently crying as he covered his mouth with a hand in hopes to spare Aldo the nuisance of having to check-up on him.

But Aldo knew, and every time Hans would start mumbling in his sleep, feeling him shift uncomfortably in his bed in the spare guest room, he’d wake up and stare at his ceiling for a while, pondering whether or not the other man deserved that.

Hans had caused the death of so many people that at least half of the German nazis considered him Hitler’s best hunting dog, always ready to drive out jews with his incredible techniques, a man without regrets and without mercy.

Aldo’s idea of Hans was, surprisingly, very different than that.

Well, maybe it wasn’t so surprising, given that he’d been the first person to spend more than one day with Hans not talking about his job, but still- he recognized that getting to peek inside that cunning man’s intricate heart was even harder than trying to understand his brain.

Aldo had given up trying to understand why Hans did what he did, accepting that as much as he subconsciously tried to make excuses as to why Hans hadn’t tried something else, it was pointless to deny that Hans Landa knew well what he was doing, and he had turned a blind eye to the massacre in order to appease his own selfish and arrogant needs.

Time got back in place as Hans let out a strangled yelp, at which Aldo decided he’d go see if he needed anything.  
He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and checked the clock: 3:00 a.m.

He stood up and sighed loudly, dragging his feet slightly as he gently knocked on Hans’ door.

He could practically hear the other man gasp as he struggled to recollect himself enough to steady his voice and breathing.

“I’m fine Aldo, go- go back to sleep….I apologize for waking you up….”

“Hans, we can’t keep doing this. Can I come-“

“NO!” Hans shouted maybe a little too much and automatically covered his mouth, a habit that he’d train himself out of once he became a colonel, but that had resurfaced due to the recent amount of stress he’d been under.  
“I am fine, really! Ju- just go, Aldo….please….”

The way the last word was spoken made Aldo’s heart clench a bit.

Maybe he should’ve left him alone.

He didn’t.

Aldo slowly turned the door handle and let out the breath he wasn’t aware he was holding in as it opened, thankful that Hans didn’t usually lock his door.  
He peeked, but since it was way too early in the morning to have any natural light, he couldn’t see anything.

He quietly slipped in and left it open just in case Hans screamed at him to leave immediately, which he didn’t.

“You ok?”

Hans just sighed and sniffled without answering.

Aldo took a few steps further until he felt his own shins hit the edge of the bed.  
He blindly reached for the nightstand before stopping.

“Can I turn the light on?”

Hans murmured something that was a vague ‘yes’, so Aldo flipped the switch of the lamp and the picture before him was….it was certainly something.

Hans had sat up, knees drawn to his chest - that man was remarkably flexible, Aldo had noticed - and instinctively threw a hand over his face to shield his tired eyes from the sudden intrusion of the lamplight.

“Aight, so, listen up. I tolerate lots of y’bull crap, like the obsessive cleaning’ n shit, but I won’t stay silent ‘bout this. So, what’s wrong?”

Hans lifted his head from its position above one knee to steal a quick look in Aldo’s general direction, eyes red and puffy.  
Since Aldo wasn’t talking and didn’t seem on the verge of leaving - yet - he figured he’d have to speak up.

He cleared his throat and forced a bit of his usual facade on, something Aldo had gotten good at spotting and calling out.

“I had a nightmare, Aldo. That is all. I should stop watching horror movies with you before going to bed….”

Aldo, hands planted on his hips, rolled his eyes and made a ‘tsk’ sound with his tongue.

“Now see, I wanna help you, but you can’t keep bullshitting me like that Landa. Think I don’t hear what you say in your sleep? ‘I’m sorry, please’? What horror movie s’that from, huh?”

Hans flinched at the words and felt his throat start to close up again.

“Please, Raine, leave my room and let me sleep. I apologize I woke you up-“

“Oh, so now it’s ‘Raine’? What happened since that night? I didn’t feel like ‘Raine’ t’be honest.”

Hans looked at him with an indignant glare and then squinted at him.

“You just called me Landa! That’s fair?”

Aldo saw right through him and pointed a finger at him.

“Don’t ya try to change subjects, I asked you a question, answer it.”

Hans opened his mouth and then closed it, still staring at him with an angry expression.  
He swatted Aldo’s finger out of his face angrily and then lowered his gaze.

“Nothing happened. It was a mistake due to the beer.”

Aldo didn’t say anything, just kept looking at him.

Under the other’s heavy gaze, Hans felt too vulnerable.  
“Please, leave. I want to sleep.”

Aldo hesitated some extra seconds before turning on his heels and walking out, closing the door.  
Hans was half expecting him to slam it closed, but Aldo wasn’t like that.  
Besides, the lack of noise when the door was closed spoke louder than anything else, reverberating through Hans’ chest and getting stuck in his throat, where he felt a knot form tight.

He quietly laid back down, pulled the cover on his frame and turned the light off, hoping that the thin cotton layer could fend off his invisible monsters.

————————————————————————————————————————————————————

They didn’t talk much, the morning after.

Aldo mumbled something about ‘work, groceries’ before heading out, leaving Hans once again alone with his thoughts.

The day had started off great.  
Rain pouring down as if an ark were to appear over the horizon.

Hans mentally scoffed at his own immaturity.  
Joking about his religion had always felt like a taboo- well, religion as a whole felt like a taboo, to him.  
His father insisted on his first communion, hoping that his son would follow his own plan and become a priest.

Hans had other plans, and would constantly try to run away from the church, getting hit with a belt as punishment or having no dinner.

Reminiscing about his childhood always felt like eating a spoiled fruit: the sweetness that might have been there is completely replaced by something bitter, repulsive and it left a disgusting aftertaste.  
One of the main reasons that pushed Hans into the army was to leave that small, conservative town that carried so much pain and disappointment.

Back to the present, Hans sighed deeply and finally moved from the sink after having washed his bowl.  
Aldo hadn’t had breakfast with him, leaving earlier than usual.

‘He wouldn’t die of hunger, anyways’ Hans thought before kicking himself mentally.  
He hated his own thoughts, sometimes.

The quick wit and his ability to make jokes and remarks were always appreciated by his fellow nazi colleagues, because it was always aimed at his enemies, and who doesn’t like overpowering an enemy by roasting them just with words.

Hans had made it a habit to judge others and to make rude remarks, but now, with the only enemy being the person he saw in the mirror, he knew he needed to change.

He walked to the living room and stood there for a few seconds, not really knowing what to do.

He had a book to finish, but he wasn’t feeling it.

The TV was also there, the blank, black screen staring back and making his lower half seem distorted thanks to the plastic surface.

He sighed again and chose to just sit on the couch and wait for inspiration to come to him.

As he sat down, his foot accidentally bumped into something that tipped over and rolled in a semi-circle on the wooden floor.  
He looked down to see an abandoned, empty beer can sadly rolling from side to side.

Hans picked it up, examining the object and tilting his head slightly.

It was Aldo’s beer can.

From two weeks ago.

If he concentrated hard enough, Hans could still feel the touch of Aldo’s lips against his.  
He closed his eyes, listening to the rain as the memories flooded back into his head, images clear behind his closed eyelids.

Aldo’s gentle hands on his neck and hip, his mustache scratching his nose, but not enough to distract Hans from those gorgeous, plump lips.

And oh, the sounds Hans made.

He blushed as his lips fell open instinctively, and he reached up with two fingers to touch them just like Aldo’s had.

When they had pulled back from each other, gasping for air, eyes closed or fluttering open for mere seconds before Aldo pulled him in his lap and claimed his mouth once again.

Hans was sprawled on the couch, legs bent and beer can forgotten on the floor, eyes still closed as he let out a soft whine.

He immediately regretted it and felt ashamed of himself.  
But he couldn’t help his wandering hands, when all he could think about was Aldo’s body under his, how warm he had felt and how safe he felt.

How loved.

His chin tipped back against the cushions as he gently cupped himself through his sweatpants, the friction so delicious that his entire body trembled just by that - after all, the intensive job had left Hans with very little time for himself.

Thinking of Aldo felt so morally wrong and filthy, but it also felt too good to stop now, the memories getting mixed and blurred with dreams and hopes, of Aldo wrapping his arms around him as he pulled him down on their bed - their, how romantic - and kissed every inch of Hans’ face, yes, even his ugly scar, because he wanted to make sure that Hans knew how much he loved him.

Hans’ other hand came up to cover his mouth shyly, a gesture he’d inherited from always being shamed for his crooked chin.

Hans started moving a bit more, panting and letting soft gasps fall from his parted lips, as the images in his head became more vivid and more intense, overwhelming the sound of the rain and the sound of the door opening-

“Landa? You downstairs?”

Hans’ military training backed him up, for once, and as his entire body tensed and shot up straight, his balance helping him stay upright as Aldo stepped in the door, drenched from head to toe from the rain.

They exchanged a few long looks, for several seconds, Hans feeling like he might spontaneously combust at any point.  
His hands had found a place twisted together between his legs, hoping to cover his evident erection as best as his arms could and taking some deep, steadying breaths.

Aldo’s mouth was still open, and he was squinting like he did when he knew something was up, but the cold wind coming in through the door and making him freeze even more forced him to act and close it.

He removed his boots and stood there awkwardly, then looked at Hans again.

“The hell happened to your hair?”

Hans, who had realized that his face must’ve betrayed him from minute one, blinked several times and tried to swallow his shame.

“I just….took a nap”

Hans was disappointed in his own answer but Aldo seemed convinced enough, or he didn’t care enough to inquire any further.  
“Do ya mind getting me a towel? Dun wanna bring all the water into the house…”

Hans had sprung up mid-sentence and he nodded before stepping off and towards the stairs.  
As he reached Aldo’s bathroom he grabbed the largest towel he could find and looked at himself in the mirror: he looked utterly guilty.

Filled with shame, he walked downstairs and handed Aldo the towel before his mind finally decided to help out.  
“What happened to you?”

Aldo started peeling off layers of clothes and piling them in a corner.  
“I got to the car and as soon as I left the driveway, it stuttered and then dropped dead. Couldn’t get it to turn back up so I had to step out and push it back into the garage, but t’was slippery, so it took longer than it would’ve….I can’t go to work like this, so I guess I’m taking today off.”

Hans’ eyes widened a bit and he frowned.  
“You could have called me, I would have helped you….”

Aldo simply shrugged.  
“Didn’t want you to get wet.”

Hans felt something inside him stir, and he recognized it as warmth.  
Aldo caring about him not getting wet was….remarkably sweet for a man that was once his enemy.

Aldo had gone down to his underwear, and Hans casually looked down before up-and-away again, blushing profusely and yet not moving away.

Aldo looked at him and carefully tilted his face grabbing his chin with two fingers, then feeling his cheek and forehead.  
“You feel hot, are you aight? Or-“

Hans gasped and looked at his hand.  
“Aldo you are freezing! I am fine! You need to dry yourself up, and put some clothes on….maybe take a shower”

Aldo couldn’t help but chuckle.  
“How ‘m I gonna be dry in a shower?”

Hans huffed and pouted, shaking his head.  
“You know what I meant….”

They exchanged a few seconds of comfortable silence, Aldo wrapping the towel around his shoulders as Hans waited and looked down.  
Aldo knew something was up, if Hans’ ruffled hair was anything to go by, and he wanted to ask but he knew he wasn’t the best at sweet talking.

He figured that maybe Hans didn’t even want to share.

Aldo leaned in, hand coming up to hold his chin again as he placed a soft kiss on his forehead, a bit on the left, where only the corner of his lips touched Hans’ scar.

“Be good while ‘m gone.”  
He muttered and smirked before grabbing his clothes and walking upstairs.

Hans got stuck in time and space, mouth hanging open as his heart was racing.  
It was just when he heart the shower turn on that he blinked and let out the breath he wasn’t aware he was holding.

Then, he smiled a bit and headed to the kitchen, quietly, but happily brewing some fresh coffee for both of them.

**Author's Note:**

> This....this was ready five months ago.  
> F I V E.  
> But I graduated from highschool and then....life happened, lol.
> 
> Finally polished it a bit and posted this mess.  
> As always, if you've enjoyed it consider leaving a kudo and a comment!!  
> See ya, buh-bye :3


End file.
